> >Air Canada to Donate Douglas DC-9 to Canada Aviation Museum > > > > > > MONTREAL and OTTAWA, Feb. 15 /CNW/ - Air Canada and the Canada= Aviation >Museum today announced the donation by Air Canada of a vintage 1960s= Douglas >DC-9 aircraft to the national museum's collection. The aircraft is= scheduled >to be delivered to the Ottawa museum in the spring of 2002. Today's >announcement comes as the airline officially marks the retirement of its= DC-9 >fleet after almost 36 years of service from coast to coast. > "The Canada Aviation Museum prides itself in charting not only= Canada's >rich aviation heritage but also the important milestones in the history and >technology of flight," said Anthony Smyth, Director General of the Canada >Aviation Museum. "We appreciate Air Canada's understanding of the= usefulness >and significance of this aircraft which has played an important role in our >civil aviation history and gratefully accept the guardianship of this= aircraft >for this and future generations. Undoubtedly, the Museum's wide audience of >Canadian and international visitors will benefit greatly by seeing the= first >twin-jet commercial aircraft operated in Canada." > "Air Canada is proud to help preserve this important piece of= Canadian >aviation history by donating a Douglas DC-9 aircraft to the Canada Aviation >Museum in our nation's capital," said Captain Rob Giguere, Air Canada's >Executive Vice President, Operations, at a ceremony today at the carrier's >Montr=E9al headquarters to mark the official retirement of the DC-9= aircraft >from Air Canada's operating fleet. "Today marks an important milestone in= the >history of both Air Canada and Canadian aviation." > "With the retirement of the DC-9 we say farewell to the workhorse of= the >Air Canada fleet for almost 36 years. The DC-9 changed the nature of air >transportation in Canada and represented for most Canadians their first >experience of jet travel. It connected Canadians from coast to coast,= between >most Canadian cities large and small, with faster, quieter and more= reliable >air transportation than ever before," concluded Captain Giguere who piloted >the DC-9 for almost 10 years, as did his father, Captain Ren=E9 Giguere= until >his retirement from Air Canada in 1968. > Air Canada took delivery of its first DC-9 on January 6, 1966, and= thus >became the first airline outside the United States to adopt this aircraft >type. It replaced Air Canada's Vickers Viscount fleet of 44 turbo prop >aircraft which Air Canada had been the first to introduce in North America= in >1955. At the height of the DC-9 deployment, Air Canada had as many as 50= DC-9s >serving most of its destinations throughout North America. While in service= at >Air Canada, the DC-9 fleet was constantly updated with the latest in >technological enhancements as well as customer service amenities. The fleet >accumulated a total of more than three million hours of service and= completed >more than three million landings and takeoffs. > The retirement of Air Canada's DC-9 fleet is part of the carrier's on- >going fleet renewal program to improve operating efficiencies and give Air >Canada one of the youngest, most environmentally friendly fleets in the= world. >In 2001, 13 DC-9 aircraft were removed from the operating fleet and the >remaining five were removed in January 2002. Air Canada's last DC-9 flight= was >operated from La Guardia to Montr=E9al by Captain Ken Jones and First= Officer >Sylvain Boucher on January 18, 2002. > > NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A downloadable photo of Air Canada DC-9s parked= at >the airline's Dorval maintenance base is available at the following URL: ><http://www.aircanada.ca/about-us/media/facts/logo.html>http://www.aircanad= a.ca/about-us/media/facts/logo.html > The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com ICQ: ICQ # 15836110 ICQ Pager: mailto:15836110@pager.icq.com escape email #!1 mailto:ejames@escape.ca yahoo email #2: mailto:triniroj@yahoo.com Yahoo Pager: triniroj Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Group on Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribsocabrass Caribbean Brass & Soca Connection Club Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeansocabrassconnection/ ******************************************************* Steel Expressions Orch http://www.escape.ca/~ejames/se/ email #1: mailto:steelexpressions@yahoo.com email #2: mailto:steelexpressions@home.com ******************************************************* The Trinbago Site of the Week: (NLCB) http://www.nlcb.co.tt/ (National Lotteries Control Board) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://195.224.187.36/ *********************************************************